I knew I wanted to make a second small world based off of our Insect TOOB
creatures, and since we love butterflies (and raise them every year!), what better world to make than Butterfly World?

Our Michaels store is constantly running specials on their faux flowers, so I waited until these brightly colored gerber daisies were two for $1 and bought several in purple, white, yellow, and pink. S loves having different sensory materials in her worlds, so I settled on using some fresh green grass and adding a little pond. And of course we used our Dollar Tree gems, because, well, we almost always use our Dollar Tree gems. :)

At first, I cut the stems of the flowers to the height I wanted. But then I saw S bending the stems and realized that because they had wire inside and I could bend them to the correct height! Thank goodness for S! So I bent the remaining flowers and stabilized them with tape throughout the world. I left an opening in the center for the butterfly's pond.

A quick trip to the backyard with a grocery bag yielded the grass necessary and we added a few drops of blue Colorations Liquid Watercolors to make the pond especially blue (you could instead use blue food coloring). S required gems both in the pond and randomly scattered throughout the world. It was then ready to be populated by our guests - a few creatures from our Safari Ltd Insect TOOB and one rogue Monarch (from a really cool Safari Ltd Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly set we used to learn about Raising Butterflies).

S immediately set to work storytelling, as is always the case with our small world set ups. The butterflies in Butterfly World lived on the flowers and needed to make beds because they were sleepy. They also needed to bathe in the pond (there's a lot of sleeping and bathing that goes on in our small worlds - they are for sure recurring themes).

The butterflies would fly down into the grass, gather wingfuls of it, and transfer them to the flowers.

They also loved including a gem or two in each of their beds. To decorate, of course.

Blue butterfly was pretty serious about constructing her bed/nest. I was so impressed with how much these flowers held - there were 2-3 gems and a giant pile of grass on most of them, and there was no bending or falling!

All activities here are activities I feel are safe for my own children. As your child's parents/guardians, you will need to decide what you feel is safe for your family. I always encourage contacting your child's pediatrician for guidance if you are not sure about the safety/age appropriateness of an activity. All activities on this blog are intended to be performed with adult supervision. Appropriate and reasonable caution should be used when activities call for the use of materials that could potentially be harmful, such as scissors, or items that could present a choking risk (small items), or a drowning risk (water activities), and with introducing a new food/ingredient to a child (allergies). Observe caution and safety at all times. The author and blog disclaim liability for any damage, mishap, or injury that may occur from engaging in any of these activities on this blog.